Demon Hunter
by TheSumOfAllCasey
Summary: Sixteen year old Ian Hecox is waiting for the bus one night when he finds himself being attacked by an otherworldly demon. Will the monster kill the defenseless teen, or is there someone who might be able to save him? If you like this story, be sure to check out the sequels I've written! Rated T for language.


The bus was late and Ian Hecox was growing irritated.

"Goddammit, where the fuck is it?" he muttered under his breath. The forbidden swearwords felt good on his tongue and helped temporarily distract him from how wet and cold he was in the chilly March rain.

He'd been sitting on the bench at this damned bus stop for the past ten minutes, and it was becoming exceedingly obvious that the sweatshirt he had on over his T-shirt and jeans wasn't doing anything to keep out the cold. Ian shivered and cinched the hood tighter around his head.

Unfortunately, the sky was almost totally dark now, and Ian didn't think it was a good idea to try getting back to his parents' house on foot. Which meant he was stuck sitting on this damn bench until the bus finally decided to show up.

Suddenly, Ian heard a scuffling scrape from somewhere behind him. His blood ran cold as he turned to look for the source of the sound. He couldn't make out a single thing in the darkness, and now the only thing he could hear was the falling rain.

Ian's next shiver was only partly due to the temperature. Scenes from horror movies flashed through his mind, making all the shadows seem darker than they were before.

"I will not be scared," he said quietly, then with more volume. "I will not be-!"

A deep, long growl interrupted his words, and Ian cut off with a yelp. A sudden surge of adrenaline made his stomach lurch and all the hairs on his neck stand straight up.

_It's a dog, Ian, _he told himself. _And not some bloodthirsty, feral beast that's going to try to chew your balls off. It's just a nice, lost little lab._

Still, he jumped off the bench and slowly backed away from the source of the noise, feeling the rain hit his hood as he stepped out from under the cover over the bus stop bench.

"Get out of here, you stupid dog!" Ian tried to make his voice authoritative and loud, but it sounded terrified even to his ears.

His words had the opposite of their intended effect. Ian heard several loud, fast footfalls, heavy breathing, and then….

He saw it.

In the half-second that Ian stood rooted to the ground in absolute terror, his mind took in a hundred tiny details about the creature that stood before him: its grotesque face, razor-sharp fangs, leathery bat wings, and electric purple eyes. The only word for it that came to mind was _gargoyle _and even that didn't seem terrifying enough.

The monster lunged forward without warning, jumping over the bus stop in one smooth, lightning-fast motion. Ian dove out of the way with a high-pitched yell, grazing his hands and knees on the wet, cold pavement. He heard the gargoyle land just behind him, and Ian scrambled to his feet. He darted around the back of the bus stop, hoping to use it as some sort of barrier between himself and the monster.

The gargoyle settled back on its haunches, its spiky tail thrashing like a cat's. For the first time in his sixteen years of life, Ian was forced to come to terms with his own mortality. He was going to die right now, unless some divine force chose to step in and save the day.

Just then, Ian heard the sound of squealing tires coming from the road in front of him. He foolishly took his eyes off the gargoyle and searched the dark street for the car, hoping to find a rescuer. Before he could make anything out, he felt something large, hard, and extremely painful slam into his chest. All the breath was forced out of his lungs as he fell backward onto the hard ground. Ian's head hit the pavement along with the rest of him, and he saw stars for a moment as pain lanced through his skull.

His vision cleared in time to see the gargoyle slinking forward. The hungry snarl that curled across the creature's lips was enough to make Ian fight to his knees and crawl away from it.

His head was throbbing and the world seemed to pulse in and out of focus. He could hardly draw air into his lungs, despite the desperate, shallow breaths he kept taking. He thought he heard someone shout something and maybe the sound of running footsteps, but he wasn't sure they were any more real than the lights that still danced across his vision.

Ian made it off the sidewalk unscathed and turned his head to look for the gargoyle. To his surprise, it wasn't even facing him anymore. It seemed totally distracted by… someone else.

Someone who was attacking the gargoyle with a long, curved sword.

Someone who, despite the dim lighting, looked familiar to Ian.

"A—Anthony?" he mumbled.

Then the combined force of the blow to his head, lack of oxygen, and pure panic made Ian black out.

* * *

It only took one solid slice of Anthony's sword before the gargoyle let out a loud roar and took wing. Anthony glared up at it as it disappeared into the sky, wishing he could pursue it and finish it off. Who knew what kind of trouble it might cause before he finally hunted it down?

He wiped the demon blood off his sword blade and then slid it back in the sheath he wore on his back. He considered dumping it back at his car, just in case someone happened to see it, but then realized he had bigger priorities.

Anthony jogged over to the crumpled figure on the ground and knelt beside him.

"Ian? Hey, dude, wake up." He gently took the boy's shoulder and shook him.

Ian moaned, his eyelids flickering. He reached up and touched his head gingerly, making it clear that it hurt.

"You okay?" Anthony asked.

Ian pushed his overly-long bangs out of his eyes and squinted up at Anthony.

"What the hell?" he mumbled. "What the hell are you doing here, Anthony?"

Anthony swallowed. "Uh, I was just, you know, driving by and I thought it looked like you needed help." He tried to subtly shift his jacket to cover up his sword sheath. Maybe Ian didn't remember what had happened? That would make this whole thing so much easier.

Ian sat up, wincing slightly. "Where'd that _thing_ go?"

Anthony was definitely going to try to see if he could convince Ian that it hadn't happened. "What thing?"

"That, uh, gargoyle thing, or whatever it was."

Anthony tried to school his expression into one of incredulity. "What the hell are you talking about, man?"

Ian's eyebrows pinched together. "The thing that just attacked me," he said in a less-confident voice.

"I don't know what you're talking about. You hit your head pretty good, though, so you might not be thinking straight."

Ian pushed himself to his feet and continued frowning at the taller boy. "No, I didn't hallucinate that. I know I didn't. Why are you lying to me, Anthony?"

Anthony swallowed again, feeling apprehensive. "Look, why don't you just come sit down out of the rain? The bus should be here in a few minutes and then you can head back home."

He grabbed the boy's arm and guided him over to the bus stop bench.

"Why the hell do you have a sword?" Ian said sharply. "See, I told you I wasn't hallucinating! You came and fought off that gargoyle! Did you kill it?"

Anthony mentally cursed. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said again.

"You're the world's shittiest liar, Anthony."

"No I'm not! You're talking crazy, dude. I mean, you realize gargoyles don't actually exist, right? And just because I have a sword doesn't prove the existence of some mythical creature." He rolled his eyes, trying to be rude and condescending in the hope that doing so would convince Ian he was wrong.

"Yeah but…. I'm not crazy. And I remember everything that happened."

"Look, sorry man. I'm sure it seems like it really happened. But I think you're okay, so I'm just gonna go. My mom will be worried about me if I don't get home."

Ian's pale blue eyes were full of suspicion, resentment, and something like fear. Anthony felt a bit sorry for him, but he knew telling him the truth wasn't an option.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow, okay?"

Ian didn't respond, so Anthony just turned and started to make his way across the dark street, all too aware of the sword showing clearly on his back.

"Hey Anthony," Ian called. Anthony stopped in the middle of the road and turned to look at him.

"What?"

"If the gargoyle was just some figment of my imagination, then where'd you get those claw marks on your jacket from?"

Anthony looked down at his chest to see the three long gashes that had been torn in the front of his black windbreaker.

"Fuck," he muttered. He scowled at the boy sitting at the bus stop. "Just go home, Ian."

He turned and continued across the street, heading to his parked car. He was unlocking the car's door when he heard footsteps behind him and realized Ian had followed him across the road.

"Hecox…." Anthony growled, turning to face him.

"Give me a ride home," Ian demanded. "I'm not sitting at that goddamn bus stop for one more goddamn minute."

Anthony sighed in frustration. "I don't even know where you live."

"I can give you directions," he said firmly.

Anthony closed his eyes and sighed. "All right, fine, I'll drive you home. But only if you stop talking about your imaginary gargoyle."

Ian glared at him. "Deal."

Anthony laid his sword across the backseat as Ian got in on the passenger side. Without looking at the blue-eyed teen, Anthony swung himself into the driver's seat and started his car. He'd only barely shifted into drive and pulled away from the curb when Ian said, "So what exactly was that thing?"

Anthony rolled his eyes. "Would you believe me if I told you it was just some dog that attacked you, knocked you out, and scratched my jacket?"

"No," Ian said flatly.

_Oh, fuck it. _"Would you believe me if I told you it was a demon that entered this world through a portal a couple blocks away from here?"

Ian cocked his head. "Maybe. But if that were true, then how come no one else knows about them?"

Anthony blew out a long breath. Maybe he should just tell Ian everything. God knows it might be nice to finally tell someone the truth. And at this point, it didn't seem like he was going to convince Ian that he'd imagined everything.

"Because I've been tracking them down and killing them before they manage to do any real damage," Anthony said.

"Whoa. So you're like some sort of demon hunter or something?"

Anthony frowned as he pulled up at a stop sign. "Do I go right or left here?"

"Left. My house is on 21st street."

Anthony nodded and then remained silent, hoping he was done having to entertain Ian's probing questions.

"You're not going to get away without answering me, you know."

"All right, all right. Yes, I guess you could call me a demon hunter if you wanted to, though really I'm just a guy who tries to keep the world demon-free and semi-normal."

"How long have you been doing this?"

"About eight months."

"And nobody else knows about the demons or the portal?"

Anthony shook his head. "You're the first person I've ever told all this."

"So what, you just sneak out of your house at night and go kill monsters?"

"Pretty much. I've only had to kill about ten of them, 'cause they don't get out that often."

"So did you kill that one tonight?"

"No. It flew away from me, and I couldn't chase it down because I had to go make sure your stupid ass was okay."

Ian didn't seem to like this statement. "Does that mean it's still out there somewhere?"

"Well yeah," Anthony said. "But it probably won't hurt anyone right away; I got one hit in and it's going to be pretty injured for a few days."

"How long will it take you to find it?"

Anthony drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. "I don't know, a few days, probably. They typically stay near the portal, so they're not _that _hard to find."

Ian shook his head. "I can't believe you've been keeping this huge secret for all this time and no one's found out about it. Like, how have you never gotten injured?"

"Luck, I guess. I mean, I've gotten a couple scratches and stuff, but never anything major."

"So how did you find the portal anyway?" Ian asked.

Anthony shrugged uncomfortably. He may have just spilled most of his biggest secrets to this kid, but there were still some things he didn't think he'd ever tell anyone about. "I just found it one day. I dunno."

Luckily, Ian seemed to have too much to think about to bother pressing the issue. "I never would've guessed," he muttered. "You of all people…."

Anthony frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just that you seem so… normal. And that I've known you for years but I never even knew you had any big secrets."

"Well, it's not exactly like we're best friends or anything," Anthony said.

They drove in silence for a moment before Ian said, "My house is the gray one on the right here."

Anthony pulled up to the curb outside the house and said, "You know you can't tell anyone else about this, right?"

"Yeah, although it seems like a pretty dumb thing to keep a secret… that fucking gargoyle almost killed me."

"Ian, you can't tell _anyone, _you hear? I've got this under control all by myself and I don't need anyone else to get involved."

Ian gave Anthony a quizzical look and then said, "All right, fine, I won't tell anyone. But only on one condition."

"Oh, here we go," Anthony muttered as he rolled his eyes. "What's the condition?"

Ian cocked his head slightly and said, "That you agree to give me a ride to and from school every day."

Anthony frowned. "What? That's a stupid condition."

Ian just stared at him, and Anthony sighed. Ian's house wasn't that far from his, and kind of on the way to school. Surely it wouldn't be that big of a deal to give him rides for a little while, even if it meant he had to listen to Ian's annoying questions.

"Fine," Anthony said. "You can bum rides off me, you little dick."

Ian smiled smugly and opened the car door. "Okay then. See you tomorrow, Anthony."

"See you," Anthony grumbled as Ian shut the door and started up the walk to his house. Anthony stayed idling at the curb until he saw Ian disappear through the house's front door.

As Anthony drove away, he considered this latest development. As eventful as tonight had been, he had a feeling the future held a lot more unexpected turns now that Ian knew his secret.

He wasn't wrong.


End file.
